MBTA revives see-tell efforts

(The following article by Marie Szaniszlo was posted on the Boston Herald website on March 8.)

BOSTON -- The MBTA is re-launching its “See something? Say something” campaign tomorrow, urging the public not to be deterred by those who accused authorities of over-reacting to the Jan. 31 bomb scare created by a guerrilla marketing stunt gone horribly awry.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, T General Manager Daniel Grabauskas, District Attorney Daniel Conley, police Commissioner Edward Davis and dozens of T employees and transit police will hand out pamphlets tomorrow morning at Park Street Station, reminding riders not to be lulled into complacency just because the electronic devices planted around the city turned out to be blinking ads for a cartoon show.

Meanwhile, the doofuses who planted the gizmos, Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, could have their cases resolved by the end of this month, a prosecutor said yesterday.

The two remained solemn and silent in Charlestown District Court yesterday, in stark contrast to their supercilious performance at their first court appearance. Their case has been continued to March 31.

“We’ve been in lengthy conversations. We hope to resolve the case before that,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said.

The two have pleaded not guilty to placing hoax devices and disorderly conduct. The devices, depicting a cartoon character making an obscene gesture, were illuminated circuit boards with batteries and wires designed to promote the Cartoon Network show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”

The contraptions were part of an advertising campaign by Turner Broadcasting to promote the cartoon. Turner Broadcasting and the New York advertising agency that carried out the campaign, Interference Inc., have agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to cover costs and restitution for the all-out police response that shut down highways and bridges after more than three dozen of the devices were found.